


Shattered

by acxrns



Series: Blacked Out [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angels, Angst, Character Death, Demons, Everyone Gets A Death, Excessive Swearing, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Murder, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Intense Internal Monologue, Multi, Oh And Did I Mention Death, Original Character Death(s), Original Fiction, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Phobias, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Seriously There's A Lot of Death, Short Chapters, Soulsharing, This Is Still A Shitshow, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Very Determined Teenagers, Violence, War, Weird Plot Shit, What Are Normal Names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-10-18 22:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 5,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10626678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acxrns/pseuds/acxrns
Summary: Persephone has finally escaped from the clutches of B.R.A.A.V.E., the institution that has kept her locked up for the majority of her life. To make things even better, she escaped with her newfound friends.But is this so-called "real Brave" exactly what they say they are? Or is it all just another trick?





	1. |Prologue|

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lydia [without whom this never would've been completed and would still be as much of a mess as I am]](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Lydia+%5Bwithout+whom+this+never+would%27ve+been+completed+and+would+still+be+as+much+of+a+mess+as+I+am%5D).



> Please note, before you begin, that this is a sequel to another story. It won't make any sense if you haven't read the first one, Split.
> 
> ~probably-not-illusory

As it turns out, I don’t have DID.

Instead, I have a part of a bloodthirsty demon queen’s soul stuck inside of my body.

I’m learning to think past my chiraptophobia, because fear is what calls the demon forth.

They put me in a mental hospital, where I lived for 9 years of my life.

I met these kids there.

They changed my life.

They helped me escape from that mental hospital. They ran away with me.

But then we were caught, and brought back to the HQ of B.R.A.A.V.E., the organization which made all of the mental hospitals and shit. And then we shot their leader, and ran away.

And now, here we are. In the so-called "real Brave".

But I don’t know what we’re supposed to do here yet.


	2. |1|

“Ey! Persephone!”

I look up from my new notebook.

One of the people here had brought me a new one. I don’t know how they knew that I even had an old one, but hey. I’m not arguing.

I just wish I had my old one.

Tia races towards me, repeatedly checking the watch on her wrist. She stops in front of me, panting, her eyes shining in excitement.

Yeah, I wasn’t the only one to get a pretty little present. They gave her a watch; a nice, silver, expensive-looking watch without a single scratch on it.

They know about us. Somehow, they’ve got our files. They know that she’s an allegrophobe, so they bought her a watch so she wouldn’t ever be late.

Of course, this just made a bunch of room for trouble.

Not long ago, Kaleb, one of the oldest boys, took it from her while she was sleeping. She woke up in the morning and went on a rampage trying to find the stupid thing. When she finally did find it in Kaleb’s nightstand, she threw a fit and started hunting the boy down. He had to hide from her for almost a week.

Ah, good times.

“Perse! Come on, quick!”

I leap to my feet in one quick motion, stuffing the notebook in the pocket of my hoodie.

“What, did they find something?” I ask hopefully.

Her face falls, and she shakes her head sadly.

Not two weeks ago, we narrowly avoided death and escaped (as well as blew up) the headquarters of B.R.A.A.V.E., an organization that wanted nothing but perfection.

We had two people who worked for B.R.A.A.V.E. with us at the time.

However, only one of them is with us. We don’t know where the other, Cosima, ended up. We only know that the drone version of her was destroyed.

If she was still in that building when it blew up, then she’s dead. There’s no way she could have survived that.

But if maybe, just maybe, she had managed to make it out in time…

“What did they find, then?”

Her excited smile returns.

“They’re finally going to explain things!” she blurts joyfully, rocking back and forth on her heels.

Though they’d saved us, Brave (the good version) has yet to explain what happened, and why they’re so interested in us.

I guess it’s time to find out.


	3. |2|

Tia leads me to a wall.

I’m not even kidding.

She brings me to a fucking wall and stops, looking to me as if expecting me to do something about it.

“What the hell, Tia?”

She raises an eyebrow at me. “Seriously, Perse? Ya still ain’t used to the technology, ain’t ya?”

I shake my head. “Nope. Not at all,” I answer, popping the ‘p’.

She turns with a disapproving shake of her head, and knocks on the wall. Once, pause, two times, pause, once again, another pause.

And then the wall slides open under her hand, revealing a shiny room with a slab of steel for a table in the center, surrounded by a mob of plush office chairs.

At the head of the table sits a man with salt-and-pepper hair and a neatly trimmed beard, his face set into a permanent scowl thanks to the scar running down his left cheek. His seemingly cold blue eyes watch me carefully as I walk in.

“Sup, Adolf,” I greet him, raising my hand in a little half-wave as I take the closest seat to the door.

A man with carefully slicked back hair glares at me, clearing his throat exaggeratedly.

I roll my eyes. “And hello to you too, Heath,” I grumble.

“Persephone,” he responds curtly.

I can feel him trying to glare a hole in my temple.

“Heath, staring at me won’t kill me,” I chuckle.

He grunts, but I feel his gaze shift from me to something else, and try to hold in my sigh of relief.

I mean, sure, he’s just an ass, but he can be pretty scary.

Kaleb sits opposite from Adolf, since he’s the leader of the penguin kids, or something like that.

Not that they ever appointed a leader. He just automatically assumed the position, and nobody fought over it.

Somehow, he’s right for the job, too. Even though he plays around a bit with the kids, I know that he’d never hurt them.

Well, at least, not on purpose.

“Where’s everybody else?” I ask, nodding at the empty seats.

In fact, there are more empty seats than occupied seats.

“They’re still coming,” Kaleb answers.

I groan, throwing my head back. “How long does it take to walk down a hallway? Seriously…”

Kaleb smirks, glancing quickly at the clock hanging over the door.

“A half hour, apparently…”


	4. |3|

“Maybe we should just start without them, Mr. Adolf,” one woman suggests.

I turn my head to glare at her viciously.

Her straight cornsilk-blonde hair hangs down around her head, flowing down to her chest.

“Connie, that ain’t very nice o’ ya,” Tia drawls, raising an eyebrow at her.

I’ve come to identify that as her _I’m-gonna-sass-you-until-you-agree-with-me_ face.

“Constantine, Horatia is correct. We must wait for the rest of the children to arrive.”

Kaleb clears his throat loudly. “We aren’t kids, sir.”

I’ve never understood why he chooses to call Adolf ‘sir’. After all, the guy’s really just a big ball of fun, wrapped in a stern-looking package.

“To us, you are,” Adolf sighs, rolling his eyes just the slightest bit.

Yeah, I never knew you could roll your eyes ‘slightly’ either. Adolf just kind of catches himself doing it, and stops halfway through. If that’s even possible. Which, apparently it is…

Kaleb grumbles something unintelligible, shifts his weight, but doesn’t protest.

Just then, the door creaks open.

“Can we come in?” Willow asks shyly, looking to Kaleb for an answer.

Kaleb smiles widely, his whole entire face lighting up like a Christmas tree as he nods and gestures for her to come in.

I hope, for his sake, that he knows there are other people coming in.

And there are other people in this room.

But the way that they’re looking at each other, it’s like they’re the only people in the room.

...The way Cato and I used to look at each other.


	5. |4|

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

I should’ve known.

Cato walks in, dragging his feet and staring intently at the ground as if it holds the secret to the universe.

“Cato?” I can’t stop myself from whispering.

My voice is broken and hopeless. I know that he won’t answer.

But I can’t help but hope.

It’s a hopeless hope, if that makes any sense.

Because, if anything, his mood seems to darken even more at the sound of my voice.

Tia places her hand on my shoulder, forcing me to look away from Cato.

She took the spot next to me. Faithful friend, I guess.

Willow, who sits next to Tia, looks to me.

“Al isn’t coming,” she says somewhat sadly. “Still in the White.”

“Anything new on him?” I ask.

The White is our kind of code name for the medical wing of the institution. I don’t feel like calling it hospital, because then it just sounds way worse than it is, and medical wing is too long. Plus, everything in there is white, so it fits.

“He’s gettin’ better,” Tia answers. “Went ta visit ‘im yesterday, ‘n he was ‘wake ‘n everythin’, talkin’ ta me, too. He gonna be a ’right in a couple o’ days.”

“You shouldn’t say that, Tia. You aren’t a doctor,” Willow protests half-heartedly.

“Ah, hell no. I ain’t no doctor, ‘n I never gonna be a doctor. But I is an Osset, ‘n an Osset ‘s always sure,” Tia drawls confidently.

I crack a smile at her. “Alright, Tia. If you say so.”

She frowns at me. “Nah, Perse. I don’t say so. I damn well know so!”


	6. |5|

“Alright, everyone, settle down,” Adolf calls out, his voice dull and bored as he pokes the table with the eraser end of his pencil.

Everyone shuts up immediately. Adolf doesn't need to be enthusiastic to be heard; he’s respected. It’s uncanny; they treat him like some kind of king.

It’s like he’s done something huge to them. Like he’s done something to make him worthy of worship.

Don’t ask me, I don’t know shit about this place.

“Now, Persephone and her group of… uh… _friends_... are unaware of what exactly is coming for them. I don’t believe in diving into things headfirst, so how about we get a question, and go on from there?” Adolf drones.

“Why are you so interested in us?” I blurt, cutting off something that Kaleb was saying.

Adolf looks to his employees, all sitting in a nice pretty little line on the left side of the table, looking official and everything.

“Anyone care to answer?”

If I were him, I’d have said the same thing. Talking can be so annoying sometimes.

A guy who can’t be over twenty raises his hand excitedly, letting out a little squeak.

I almost groan out loud, placing my head in my hand.

We’re going to be here all day…

Adolf looks desperately to the other people, but they all avert their gaze, staring down at the table.

“Go ahead, Arnold,” Adolf sighs hesitantly.

Captain Nerd takes off immediately, spitting out words like he’s going to die if he doesn’t.

“Well, first of all, we’ve tracked differences inside the blood of several of you, paranormal differences, if you will. For example, Persephone’s blood is tainted with the immortal power of a demoness, because Lilith placed a piece of her soul inside of her. Persephone isn’t the only one with strange appearances in her data, however; we’ve noticed unnatural apparitions in a lot of you, actually.

“Second of all, you guys took down B.R.A.A.V.E., which is a whole different achievement altogether. We’ve had reports of other people who’ve tried to do exactly what you guys did, but none of them ever succeeded, and most of them were trained professionals! You guys are just a bunch of teenagers with crazy phobias! I mean, it’s pretty crazy! The odds of that happening are next to none, but then again, when you add up all of the data, it makes sense, since you guys have inhuman advantages, which brings us back to the first reason,-”

“Arnold, I believe that’s enough,” Adolf murmurs uneasily, looking to each of us as if almost afraid.

I just stare at Captain Nerd, this Arnold, my mouth gaping open like that of a fish.

I must look real brilliant.

“Wait, so you want us because we’ve got some kind of paranormal stuff in our blood, and because we’ve done the impossible?” I ask hesitantly, not sure that I want another lecture from Professor Arnold.

“Uh… Yeah, I guess,” Arnold answers, seeming disappointed that I chose to word it so simply.

“Alright,” I grumble, turning to Adolf, “Now what’s the rest of it?”


	7. |6|

Adolf heaves a deep sigh before he begins.

“Right now, the world is at war. I’m not sure if any of you are aware, since the vast majority of you have spent a good few years in isolation from the rest of the world.

“It’s the Americas against Europe, Asia and Oceania. Nobody knows why. Some say it’s a battle over Africa and its resources. Africa has decided to stay neutral, and they aren’t having any of it. Others say it’s a feud between governments.

“Either way, our side has a major disadvantage. Asia has developed drones that walk, act and look like human beings, some even appearing like a loved one. They’re killing machines, and they plan on assembling an army of these.

“B.R.A.A.V.E. was a fake organisation, created and owned by the Other Side in order to steal away our hope and create more drones, based off of real people. They disguised it as an organisation for helping troubled teens, but in reality, they were trying to duplicate you, or to observe you and persuade you to join them should you be enough of an asset to them.

“You see, we aren’t the only ones who found something odd about your blood, your DNA. B.R.A.A.V.E. found that something, too, and immediately took interest in it. They tried to get you on their side, but-”

“Hey, wait. Hold on a second,” I cut him off sharply. “How’d they get our blood sample? How’d _you_ get our blood sample?”

Adolf exchanges a glance with Alex, who stands at the door, his arms crossed.

“They tested you guys while you were sleeping. As for how we got it, we tested you guys when you came in. We took samples from the blood that came from your wounds. I apologize; I thought someone had told you.”

“Yeah, well no one did. Anyway, continue.”

“Yes. Anyway.

“We slipped two undercover agents into the building. We couldn’t just let the Other Side get away with what they were doing, and if we were to contact the authorities, they would just turn tail and run, most likely with a whole bunch of new weapons at their disposal. So we placed our two agents in there, unbeknownst to Strickland, and told them to wait for the opportunity to arise when they could take down B.R.A.A.V.E.

“You know these two agents. One of them is guarding our door as we speak, and the other is missing. Our best guess is that Strickland found out that she wasn’t on their side, and she did something to her. Droned her, at least. You did destroy the drone, correct?”

“Yes,” Alex mumbles sadly in response, staring down at his feet.

Adolf nods, then turns back to me.

“What we’re trying to say, Persephone, is that we need your help. You and your friends, all of you. If you choose to help us fight against the Other Side, the road won’t be easy. But we need you, Persephone.

“The question is, will you help us? The power is in your hands, Persephone.”


	8. |7|

Wait, did he just say what I think he said?

I’m needed?

My help is needed?

All because I’ve got the soul of a demon?

What?

My mouth somehow comes up with something smart to say, despite all of the question marks circling around in my mind.

“Say we do decide to help you. How exactly are we going to help? What exactly is going to happen?”

Adolf sighs.

“Your supernatural abilities will be a great asset. You’ll be put through a series of tests, so that we can determine the strongest of you, the most fit for leadership, the fastest, and those unworthy of the title of soldier.”

I think this over carefully.

I mean, you can’t just make a decision like that in a couple of seconds. It just doesn’t work that way.

“What if we say no?” Kaleb asks.

“We will be forced to either lock you up, or send you away to an isolated place. We can’t let the Other Side lay their dirty little hands on you.”

I look up from my hands.

“We’ll do it.”

Everyone stares at me.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live the rest of my life isolated from the rest of the world. I want an actual life, thank you very much. Also, I can’t just stand by when there’s a war going on! What, we’re going to be sleeping peacefully in our cozy little beds while there are soldiers out there fighting for their lives, for _our_ lives? I don’t fucking think so!”

“But Persephone, we’ll be safe. You’ll be safe.”

Cato’s whisper reaches my ears through the sudden silence.

Holy shit.

He actually spoke to me.

For a second, I’m tongue-tied.

My thoughts are a jumble of unidentifiable words.

And then I actually process what he said.

I’m somewhat disappointed, for some reason.

“But it won’t feel like we’ve earned that safety, Cato. What, we say no to an offer to fight back against injustice, so that we can go live in a prison sanctuary like little cowards?”

“I’ve heard enough,” Kaleb snaps, looking up from the table to meet my eyes. “Persephone is right. As much as I don’t like this, we can’t just stand by and let this happen.”

And then, to Adolf.

“We’ll do it. We’ll do your test. We’ll fight on your side.”


	9. |8|

Adolf’s smile is bright enough to light up the room.

I mean, who needs light bulbs when you have a smile like that?

“Wonderful! This is simply magnificent. You see, we’ve been… postponing the beginning of the test, as we were waiting for your answer on the matter. Of course, we’d never even asked the question, but now…”

He looks like a toddler on a shopping spree in a toy store.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Adolf. Can we go rest, now? I’m pooped,” I grumble.

“Oh, yes, yes, of course! The test will begin tomorrow, bright and early; rest up so that you’re ready!”

I’m out of the door and down the hall within seconds of his announcement.

“SLEEP!” I exclaim enthusiastically, streaking down another hall and throwing myself at the door to my room.

I jerk impatiently at the doorknob, then realize that it’s locked. I pull the key out of my pocket and jam it into the lock, turning it mercilessly and throwing it open.

“SLEEP AT LAST!” I repeat, falling face-first onto my bed.

I’m out like a light within seconds, not even having closed the door.

I can just imagine the faces of those penguin kids as they walk past my room, peeking in and seeing me splayed out on my bed, probably drooling up a mess.

But, honestly?

I really don’t care right now.


	10. |9|

We wake up to the sound of a bugle.

And it blares in your ears, you have no idea.

It jars me awake, and also sends me tumbling off the side of the bed, I’m embarrassed to say.

“What the-”

“UP NOW, SOLDIER!” some asshole barks sharply.

“Alright, Jesus…,” I grumble, rising slowly to my feet and stumbling over to the door.

“IN LINE! ATTENTION!”

Great. This is just fucking great.

Persephone, just what have you gotten yourself into this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series now has a [Tumblr](https://bcfb-blacked-out.tumblr.com), because I got bored. Although, nothing has been posted yet, because I'm not quite sure what to do with it, but that doesn't matter...
> 
> Anyway, hope you're still enjoying this series. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I'll get better at it.


	11. |10|

Admiral Jackass leads us to a huge hall/gym/I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it. 

I mean, it’s so much bigger than a gymnasium, but it’s got the same cold echo, and there are lines dancing across the floor, too.

“The Boss will be with you shortly,” he says curtly.

And with a strict little salute, he’s off.

“God, I really hate that guy,” Tia grumbles, rubbing at her eyes.

I nod with a laugh.

“But hey, ‘least he led us to a bunch o’ people! Maybe one o’ these nice-lookin’ folks could tell us what’s goin’ on!” she blurts excitedly, grabbing my hand and pulling me in some random direction.

“Tia, what are you-”

“AYE! PEOPLE! WASSUP! You guys look nice!” she sings.

She yanks me to her side so that we’re both looking at a group of three girls who, a few seconds ago, had been chatting together like friends.

They exchange weird glances.

“Uh… Hey?” one of them says unsurely, raising one of her eyebrows.

Usually you can just tell when you look at a group of friends. You can almost always tell which one is the ‘alpha’.

Well, this is one of those exceptions.

Though the girl with the quirked eyebrow and the frizzy hair was the first one to speak, they all kind of radiate a sense of authority. One of them a bit less than the first two, but still.

That’s when I decide to get a good look at them.

The first girl to speak wears black-framed glasses, and has an army of acne assembled on her forehead. She wears a pair of skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt under a leather vest. Another girl also wears glasses, but has shoulder-length dark brown hair, and a strange _oh-really?_ look on her face. She wears black leggings and a black t-shirt. The last girl has golden skin and almond-shaped eyes, her black hair tied back in a ponytail. She’s got a pair of jeans on with a cartoon-y t-shirt and a gray sweater.

“You must be new,” Quirky chuckles, seeming amused for some odd reason.

“Yeah, so?” Tia snaps, getting on the defensive now.

“Hey, we ain’t accusin’ you of nothin’. We’re just sayin’…”

“No, no, it’s fine. She’s just… uh… Excited to be here!” I laugh nervously, shooting a glare at Tia.

The Three Amigos exchange glances again.

“Uh… Okay…,” Cartoon-y murmurs, shifting her weight uncomfortably.

“If you say so,” O’ Really? says, sounding disbelieving and somehow disappointed at the same time.

I frown. “What? Why are you all so… Depressed, all of a sudden…?”

“You don’t know what’s comin’, do ya? Eh, well… Uh… How to explain…,” Quirky mutters, staring off into space.

“Astrid, you aren’t making any sense,” O’ Really? chides, shooting her a look out of the corner of her eye.

“Hmm? Huh? Waa...?”

O’ Really? rolls her eyes, and Cartoony lets out a nervous little giggle.

“What she’s trying to say is that you guys are here to fight, not to have some sort of party,” O’ Really? grumbles.

Tia scowls. “But I thought we was doin’ some kinda test?”

“Well then, it’s not the kind of test you thought it was.”


	12. |11|

“Everyone, can I have your attention please?”

Tia and I turn to face the source of the voice, coming from…

Well, we have no fucking clue. The crowd is too thick.

“Yes, yes, settle down.”

I already don’t like this guy.

As soon as everyone quiets down, he begins speaking again.

“Though my identity has been cloaked in mystery, I have chosen to present myself in person to this crowd of very special people. Now, I’m going off script by saying this, but I simply must meet this one person…”

Excited whispers break out through the crowd.

“Glad I ain’t that person,” I hear Quirky (Astrid?) mutter.

“If Persephone Hartright could please come forward…”

Wait, what?

Tia shoots me a look.

You know, one of those looks that are really eye-conversations.

It goes a little something like this:

_Did you know ‘bout that?_

_Nope._

_You sure?_

_Yup._

_Didn’t know that was gonna happen?_

_Nope._

_Don’t know this guy?_

_Nope._

_You sure?_

_Yup._

“Persephone? Ah, there you are! Come on, don’t be shy!”

The crowd parts before me, leaving me a clear path to my doom.

Seriously, thanks a lot, people.

“Oh shit,” I hear O’ Really? mutter.

“Oh shit is right,” I sigh.

But, hey. It’s not like there’s anything I can do about the shit other people decide to throw at me. I can just stand there and get hit, or I can block and retaliate.

So I step forward and walk towards the stage holding the bearer of my doom, keeping my head held high and trying to look confident.

I want to run away screaming. Like a little girl.


	13. |12|

“Ah, Persephone! At last, you come join me! Wonderful!” Admiral I-Kill-You-With-Voice booms, throwing an arm around me.

I turn on him with a cat-like hiss, violently shoving his arm away and recoiling from his touch.

He stares down at me, frowning his disappointment and wagging his finger at me as if I’m some dog who didn’t perform his little trick the right way.

“What do you want from me?” I snap, eyeing the audience wildly as if they might jump on me too.

“Now, now, Persephone, no need to be rude,” he pouts. I hear a couple of chuckles from the audience.

I swear, if someone is video-taping this…

“Just tell me what you want,” I whisper helplessly, giving him the most hateful glare of all time. Hopefully.

“Oh, I just wanted to showcase my prize!” he laughs darkly, his gaze flickering with something that sends shivers down my spine. He turns to the audience. “Isn’t she great?” He cackles maniacally, his eyes bugging out of his head and his expression morphing into one of crazed madness.

“Joffrey! That’s quite enough!” some beautiful, wonderful, amazing angel of I-want-to-hug-the-living-shit-out-of-you-right-now calls out from the crowd.

Crazy-Ass Doomster straightens up, as if the sound of Amazing Person has startled him back into sanity. He looks like one of those alpha wolves, waiting to be challenged for dominance.

I turn to see who Amazing Person is, and find those cold blue eyes glaring icily at Doomster, who watches him impassively with the slightest smile on his face.

“You’re quite right, Adolf. I believe I took things too far.” He turns to me. “I apologize, Persephone,” he taunts, mocking me with his eyes as he walks purposely away from the stage and disappears into a crowd of impeccably dressed security guards.

“Well, shit,” I grumble to myself.

Maybe I can glare a hole into their backs. That would be nice.


	14. |13|

“Everyone, gather around, because I ain’t sayin’ this again!”

So, to replace Milord Bastard, we get Admiral Bow-Down-To-Me. Great.

And right after I was openly mocked by this Milord Bastard. Great.

So, I’ve lost my dignity, and now Admiral Bow-Down is going to stomp all over its nonexistence.

Great.

“You little sissies don’t look anything like soldiers! Hell, we should send y’all back to the rainbow-filled shithole you came from!”

Well, Jesus Christ. This lady sure as hell doesn’t know where I come from.

“But sadly, the bitch that sent ya here won’t take ya back, so we’re stuck training you bunch of shitheads to be a bunch of kickass.”

Admiral Bow-Down stops pacing and glares at us all as if disgusted by our very presence. She spits at her feet before turning back at us, a grim smile on her camouflage-painted face.

“You’ve got two options.”

She starts pacing again.

“Number One: You’re going to stay here with us and train to be the soldier that you swore you’d be. You’ll be training under me, and we’ll have some fun.”

She turns to sneer at us. “If you think blood and sweat is fun.”

She resumes her pacing.

“Or, Number Two: You can go work in the kitchen. I heard they got some veggies that need choppin’, and them desserts ain’t gonna cook themselves…”

She turns again to us abruptly, stamping her foot against the gym floor, the harsh sound snapping us to attention.

“If any of you were going to choose Option Number Two, then get the fuck out of my classroom right now and go pack your shit. There’s a bus outside with your name on it, sissy.”

She glowers at everyone one by one, her glare seeming to grow in hatred the further down the line she gets.

A couple of people scurry away, earning themselves a cold, terrifying scowl from Admiral Fuck-You. They scurry away even faster.

I’m somewhat relieved, yet at the same time worried when none of the penguin kids leave. The three girls from before stay, too.

“Alright, you brave idiots. I’m stuck with you, now. You guys have got two options, too; shut up and listen, or be difficult and get the fuck out. Do I make myself clear?”

Nobody says anything.

“I SAID, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!”

“Yes, ma’am,” I blurt.

Everyone else stares at me, pity in their eyes as the Admiral (or whatever she really is) saunters over to me, a twisted little smirk on her face.

She gets right up close to me, until our noses are almost touching, and I wait for my obviously impending doom.

“I like you,” she chuckles instead, slapping me on the back before marching away.

“COME ON, SISSIES! IT’S GAME TIME!” she bellows.

We’re left to follow after her, the rest of them shuffling hesitantly, whereas I am panting and trying to feel my back for a hand-shaped hole that she has obviously just left there.


	15. |14|

So we come out of Pep Talking to go to Another Long Speech. I can already tell that I’m going to hate this.

At least this one features Adolf, and not Milord Bastard.

“Everyone, may I have your attention please?”

Oh, so polite.

“I apologize for the amount of speeches that you are being forced to sit through, but I assure you, this is the last.”

A collective sigh of relief ripples through the crowd.

“Now, we have classified all of you into groups that we like to call Sectors. We’ve looked carefully through each and every one of your files, and we have separated you based on the data found so that people with similar attributes will be placed in the same Sector. Although you will sleep in the same hallway as those from your Sector, you will not be training with them. You will train with your own individual trainer, sometimes in a small group, sometimes on your own.”

Wait, did I hear him right? Separate?

“Now, though this will be a long and tedious task, we have decided to call each and every one of you up one by one to put you into your Sectors.”

He turns to a man standing next to him, holding a tablet.

“There are five Sectors; one for each letter of Brave. The Sectors will play a part later in the Test.”

He takes the tablet from the man, presses something on it, and then looks back up at the crowd.

“Again, I’ll call you up, and you’ll head off to your Sector.

“In the first Sector, Sector B, we have:

“Iris Keener, please…”

Long list of names, blah, blah, blah. I don’t even remember half of the names that he says. It isn’t in alphabetical order, either; this place is seriously screwed up.

And then,

“Jasper Chan.”

O’ Really? fidgets uncomfortably at the sound of his name, as if she were being inspected under a microscope. Quirky (seriously, is her name Astrid or nah?) smirks knowingly at her. I just pretend not to notice.

It’s the first time I see O’ Really not look ready to punch someone in the face.

An Asian guy wearing jeans and a button up shirt strolls over to the stage, smirking nervously. He, like both O’ Really? and Quirky, wears glasses.

I swear, I can hear O’ Really? sigh as he walks away with his Sector.

Adolf claps his hands, capturing our attention once again.

“Alright, everyone, I know this is long, but we now move on to Sector R.”

I have a bad feeling about this.


End file.
